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We are often unaware of the abilities our mind exhibits or the number of processes that take place in it during the simplest, everyday activities. Only the loss of some of them, due to various reasons, shows how difficult it is to live without them. Young children gain these abilities at a rapid pace. Adults sometimes lose them irretrievably. It’s dementia. Dementia.
Overall picture of dementia
When mom sometimes forgot about little things, we didn’t pay attention to it. Or we didn’t want to pay back, we were preoccupied with ourselves. She also never complained about anything – said Agata, Mrs. Iwona’s daughter. However, there had to be a serious incident for it to open our eyes to what was happening to her. She took care of our 5-year-old Krzyś. She helped us a lot when we worked, and Krzyś loved his grandmother more than his life. One day she went with him, as always, to his favorite playground. However, when my husband and I returned home, only my mother was there. It turned out that she came home alone. She forgot about our son. She forgot that he was there with her… It was a terrible time for us. And although everything ended well, we were driven by various emotions. From anger at what happened and that she allowed it to happen, to fear and fear about what was happening to her, what to do next, how their lives would be like.
Such a state can frighten anyone. Doctors, after taking an interview, examining and excluding other causes of these symptoms, concluded that Mrs. Iwona developed dementia. Many people, when they notice that they cannot cope with their normal activities, are ashamed of it. They will not admit it, fearing their awkwardness, evaluation of others, losing their current role. It is even more difficult to recognize the early symptoms of dementia and deterioration in the functioning of loved ones until they can no longer be hidden.
Dementia – not just a life without memory
Dementia is a disorder of the cognitive functions that, simply put, allows each of us to get to know our surroundings. They enable us to receive, modify and create information about the world that then shapes our behavior. It is the ability to know reality. So who are we when it comes to cognitive decline?
The translation of the Latin name of the disease – “dementia” – means “without reason” and it is hardly surprising when you look at the long list of possible symptoms of dementia. To:
- reduction of intellectual efficiency, the ability to learn, understand, speak, and the ability to recognize objects;
- the ability to plan, initiate, control and correct the course of complex behaviors;
- ability to evaluate and make rational choices, orientation.
They are also symptoms related to emotions: disturbances in criticism, changes in mood (its lowering, fluctuations), shallowing of the emotional life. The list is very long and difficult to imagine, but not all of these symptoms occur in every patient, they can occur individually and with varying severity in other people.
Check: Dementia Diseases – Types and diagnosis of dementia
The easiest and most common way of associating dementia is memory impairment, especially problems with remembering new things, and good association of distant events. But not every memory problem will be dementia and not every stage of the problem will be diagnosed in this way. Mild cognitive impairment that is not yet dementia can be diagnosed. What is it? We forget where we left the phone, about buying everything we need to make dinner, we don’t remember if we closed the door. It happens to everyone. The more difficult it is for us to draw a line between what “may happen to us” and what should already be worrying. The easiest way is to establish it in a place where problems with memory begin to cause clear difficulties and affect everyday life.
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At the beginning of the disease, when the first memory problems appear, the patient remains critical, is aware of what is happening to him, and he begins to experience emerging problems. This, in turn, can cause low mood and depression, which becomes another challenge not only for doctors, but also for the family. However, depression can be treated and cured, which certainly greatly improves the functioning and follow-up of the patient.
What is pseudo-dementia?
It must be distinguished from actual dementia pseudo-dementia, that is, pseudo-dementia, especially in the initial stage of the disease. This is where other conditions, most often mental illness, mimic dementia. They can present with the features of cognitive impairment seen in dementia. A person suffering from depression or under the influence of severe stress often has problems with remembering new things, with concentration of attention, slowing down thoughts, organization of activities and changes in mood. The same may be true of psychotic disorders or the hypomanic syndrome.
If dementia is suspected in a patient, the first thing you should do is make sure that this is actually the case. In addition to a neurological examination, a psychiatric examination of the patient is also necessary. Once the diagnosis is confirmed by the doctor, the cause of the dementia should be determined by itself dementia is a group of symptomswhich can occur in many diseases and disorders.
Read:
- Alzheimer’s disease – causes, symptoms, treatment
- Lost in oblivion – what does the disease look like?
- But high blood pressure, because you will forget your name
Dementia is not only about old age
Although the general belief is that we associate this disease primarily with aging, it is different. It is not only age that determines dementia and it should not be explained solely by the patient’s illness. It happens as a result of an organic brain disease, and there can be many causes of such disease. Most often it is Alzheimer’s disease and vascular disorders (i.e. disorders of blood circulation in the cerebral vessels). Other causes of these symptoms may include alcohol abuse, a reaction to medications, a brain tumor, or trauma. It is also hormonal disorders of the thyroid gland, disturbances in the level of electrolytes (sodium, calcium), infections of the nervous system, recurrent hypoglycaemia, liver and kidney failure and poisoning.
See also: Benign brain tumors – what to look for
The list of possible diseases is very long and, as you can see, it shows us that features of dementia they can appear at anyone and at any age. Determining the cause is important because for some conditions, treating the underlying disease that causes these symptoms may reverse and heal them. This is not possible, for example, in the case of Alzheimer’s disease, which is a progressive disease, in some people at a faster pace, in others at a slower pace. It can be slowed down, the symptoms of the disease can be minimized, and behavior can be controlled, but it cannot be stopped. Hence, proper diagnosis is so important. And although there are no specific markers of dementia and tests, the most important thing is the clinical picture, a thorough history, and the exclusion of other causes of the disorder.
When a loved one is sick
Dementia is a disease that changes not only the patient’s life, but also his family and relatives. It changes your life in the smallest, everyday activities. It will be very important to be aware of this with the diagnosis. While dementia may show up differently from person to person, it will quickly become advanced in some people, and in others it will be very slow to progress without significantly interfering with everyday life.
The sick person may have problems taking care of themselves, cooking, paying bills, expressing their thoughts, forgetting basic words. As the disease progresses, it may stop recognizing loved ones and the neighborhood where it lives, it may get lost, not remember how to return home. Such a person ceases to be independent. The family can then become a link between the sick person and the surrounding world.
Mrs. Iwona moved to live with her daughter and her family. This is not always possible, so it is worth thinking about providing the best possible care for your loved one and not leaving them alone. Agata tried to adjust her life and that of her mother to the new reality. They started with the simplest things, such as preparing labels for clothes and bracelets with the name, address, contact phone number, in case Mrs. Iwona did not remember how to return home. The simplest instructions were posted around the house, reminding people to turn off the light, the kettle, and close the door. You should be reminded to take the prescribed medications regularly and to encourage physical activity. You also need to prepare for many unpleasant moments when a loved one will not recognize their children, grandchildren, will say unpleasant things, be irritable, aggressive. There may be times when it becomes difficult to isolate the symptoms of the disease from the person we have loved all our lives and still see them first and foremost.
Hence, it becomes important that the relatives and caregivers also take care of their health and well-being, so that they are ready to face this huge challenge. Agata also wanted to help her son, keep as many good memories as possible about his grandmother. Together, they created their own book, where they documented all the best moments that Krzyś spent with his grandmother with photos, descriptions, and joint drawings.
How can I protect myself from dementia?
Can the development of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and other diseases be prevented? This is one of the more difficult questions that continues to engage many scientists. It is believed that the protective factors may be the use of the Mediterranean diet, eating fish, nuts or regular and frequent physical activity. However, there is no certainty that this will be enough.
Agata continued: “At first, we thought that our world had collapsed, that nothing would ever be the same again. I also realized that it was not only my drama, but most of all my mother’s. She had achieved so much in her life … She saw and felt what was happening to her. Then our emotions gradually subsided, we wanted to come back to life. We read a lot, asked doctors. Most of all, we spent a lot of time together. Thanks to this, on the one hand, I wanted my mother to feel that we are with her and we love her very much, and on the other hand, it was easier for me to notice any smallest changes in her condition and behavior. Now… 3 years have passed. Mom is constantly taking the prescribed medications. I think they helped her a lot and slowed her disease down a bit. There are better days and bad days. There are times when she doesn’t want to get out of bed, doesn’t talk to anyone. Sometimes she doesn’t know where she is and wants to leave the house. My Krzyś admits that he is sometimes scared and does not understand what is happening to his grandmother, even though we talk a lot about it. We accepted the disease. We try to be ready for anything that may happen and for its various symptoms. But most of all, we still want to cherish, both in our mother and in ourselves, the memory of what was the most beautiful in our life together … so that this disease does not take it away from us … “